CURRENCY MARKET WRAP
As of Mon 9th Dec, Singapore Time zone UTC+8
U.S. Dollar Index, +0.30%, 97.380
USDJPY, -0.06%, $108.64
EURUSD, -0.02%, $1.1058
GBPUSD, +0.05%, 1.3139
USDCAD, +0.04%, $1.3251
AUDUSD, -0.02%, $0.6835
NZDUSD, -0.03%, $0.6558
The headline nonfarm payrolls figure increased by 266,000 (consensus of 182,000), which blew past many of the estimates on Wall Street. Other key figures included the unemployment rate declining to 3.5% (consensus 3.6%) from 3.6% in October and average hourly earnings increasing 0.2% (consensus 0.3%).
Supporting risk sentiment was a better-than-expected preliminary consumer sentiment reading for December and an announcement from China that it started to exempt some U.S. agricultural purchases from tariffs. Altogether, the news reinforced a positive economic outlook with the Fed presumably on hold, the state of the consumer in good shape, and the trade situation seemingly improving.
The 2-yr yield increased four basis points to 1.63%, and the 10-yr yield increased five basis points to 1.84%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.3% to 97.68.
STOCK MARKET WRAP
S&P500, +0.91%, 3,145.91
Nasdaq, +1.00%, 8,656.53
Nikkei Futures, +0.27%, 23,418.50
The energy sector (+2.0%) led the advance amid some key OPEC+ news that contributed to higher oil prices ($59.20, +0.75, +1.3%). The oil producers agreed to cut production by 500,000 barrels per day until March, with Saudi Arabia also offering up to an additional 400,000 barrel cut of its own.
In corporate news, Goldman Sachs (GS 224.61, +7.47, +3.4%) outperformed after Bloomberg reported that the bank could settle its 1MDB scandal for less than $2 billion, which would also be less than expected. Ulta Beauty (ULTA 262.20, +26.18, +11.1%) climbed more than 10% after providing positive earnings results and upbeat earnings guidance.
Separately, Dow components Apple (AAPL 270.71, +5.13, +1.9%), JPMorgan Chase (JPM 135.04, +1.98, +1.5%), and Nike (NKE 97.00, +1.21, +1.3%) set new all-time highs on Friday.